Diagnostic medical imaging systems typically include a scan portion and a control portion having a display. For example, ultrasound imaging systems usually include ultrasound scanning devices, such as ultrasound probes having transducers that are connected to an ultrasound system to control the acquisition of ultrasound data by performing various ultrasound scans (e.g., imaging a volume or body). The ultrasound systems are controllable to operate in different modes of operation to perform the different scans. The signals received at the probe are then communicated and processed at a back end.
Conventional ultrasound probes include a plurality of acoustic stacks arranged in one or two dimensional (2D) arrays. The acoustic stacks transmit ultrasound signals to a body of interest. A front layer or lens is overlaid on each of the acoustic stacks. The front layer is typically a uniform curved concave or convex structure configured to focus the ultrasound signals received from the acoustic stack to a focal point normal to an imaging plane of the ultrasound probe. Additionally, based on the shape of the front layer artifact or reflection signals are focused and received by the front layer. For example, reflected signals from the body at the region of interest are partially reflected back as a lens echo or double pinning by the acoustic stack and the front layer back to the focal point. Additionally, due to the uniform structure of the front layer, the reflected signals of the lens echoes are temporally the same, which form a constructive signal through the body of interest. In another example, a portion of the ultrasound signals are reflected by the front layer creating a lens reflection that is transmitted back to the focal point. Since the lens echo and the constructive signals of the transducer reflection are focused by the front layer, at least a portion of the reflections of the lens echo and the transducer reflection are received along the imaging plane of the ultrasound probe. Thereby, creating distortions that are present in the reconstructed ultrasound image.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved front layer of an acoustic stack used within an ultrasound probe.